Reflections of Darkness
by ColdSpike2475
Summary: It was over. Nightmare Moon had won, but there was still a way to escape. What first seems like a miracle soon turns into a living nightmare for young Scootaloo. Living for so long in a war-torn Equestria, the filly finds it quite difficult to adapt to the ways of friendship and kindness.
1. Chapter One: Nightmare's Realm

_Why does it always have to be this dark…_ the quivering filly thought to herself before she shook her head and sighed. "Just take it one step at a time, Scootaloo. You've done this before… just one step at a time," she said, though the sentence was meant to reassure her and help keep her nerves from destabilizing again, each word came out quieter and more unnerving than the last.

She hated feeling fear, she hated going on her own, even if it was safer. But perhaps most of all, she hated the dark and was sick and tired of seeing it. The lack of warm colored light had, of course, started to get to many ponies. It sickened them. The lack of sunlight wasn't natural of course, it meant things couldn't grow right, if at all. It meant the lack of warmth and play, the lack of sharp vision, the lack of security. So it didn't surprise Scootaloo at all with just how dark the long and foreboding hallway was.

Looking around and making sure nopony had followed her, as instructed, she quickly reached into her saddlebags and rummaged around nervously. "C'mon, where's that stu- stupid thing," she muttered, her voice cracking a bit. The silence was beyond unnerving, even if it meant she was, in fact, safer being alone, ironic but very true.

Finally, she found the object of her desire, a small and very portable lantern that could be easily lit with the tap of one's hooves. The thing was designed in such a way to allow just enough light to leak out around the occupant in question, but not so much that one could easily be seen. Objects and inventions like that were, of course, quite illegal but were a necessity ever since **she** took over. They required no unicorn magic of any kind, self-powered by a portable battery.

She looked around nervously yet again and with a deep breath, she placed her front hoof over the top of the lantern and soon it slowly illuminated a small area of her surroundings. Feeling slightly better, if not much, she hooked the tiny lantern to the back of her bags and cantered onward. The light was barely enough to help her sight, but it was a damn sight better than before so she took a shuddering breath and continued onward.

Every once in a while the unnerving silence was broken up by the occasional jingle of the lantern, or her hooves. This obviously didn't help matters, but she knew hurrying along wasn't in her best interest. "One step at a time… slow as you can go," she urged herself and eventually was able to make a steady pace, despite her fear.

She rounded a corner only to enter another similar looking hallway of darkness. Stopping for a moment and double checking her map, she made sure that turning right and not left was, in fact, the right direction before moving on. "One- one s- step at a time…" she stuttered.

The darkness from the precious hallway was nothing compared to the new one. While the moon was absolutely sickening to see to most ponies, it at least provided some form of light in the open entryway from earlier, now it was completely gone with only her magic lantern to light her way. It was near impossible to make out any details beyond the occasional stone column and odd pony statue which looked to have seen better days. Several had simply crumpled to dust and or broken down to rocks. Gulping and doing her best to ignore the finer details of the forbidden place, she simply tried to do her best to move onward. With each passing step, it became harder and harder to justify moving forward.

After a few more map checks and a few more turns, Scootaloo decided it was high time to take a break. Sighing to herself again, she placed her hoof over the lantern and watched its light slowly fade into nothing. She hastily took a seat on the cold and unwelcoming stone and waited, the only noise that could be heard was her breathing exercises which were meant to calm a scared little filly. They didn't help much.

 _How do I even know this will work…?_ she thought suddenly. What she was doing seemed both crazy and a tad exciting, if not one of the riskiest things she could ever think to try. _Does it matter? What other choice do you have?_

She had to admit, her brain had a good point. It was getting harder and harder to stay hidden as the da- nights stretched into eternity. Even for the "free" creatures, she could sense a feeling of complete unease as time marched onward. Feelings had become bitter, dreams turned to dark thoughts of utter madness, hope but a faint ember in the ever eternal nights. But it wasn't just herself that felt this way, she could tell practically everypony and everybody had started to succumb to the darkness, to their bitter thoughts and dark ideas. With every passing d- night, more and more would give into their new queen's dark and sickening way of life. With every passing night, more would join her army with even more on the way.

Dreams had become particularly difficult to deal with. Shakily she reached into her bag and rummaged around until she found yet another illegal item: a dreamcatcher. Enchanted by some of the most powerful unicorns who could still think for themselves, it was their only weapon against the queen's nightmares. Sleep obviously didn't come easily to the young filly, or anypony for that matter, for it was a sure fire way to wake up as another of the queen's army; it was a sure fire way to lose one's soul. Shaking in fear at the mere thought, Scootaloo fought back tears of despair and anguish while her bitter thoughts continued to circle around in a loop of eternal darkness. Suddenly she could sense magic swirling around her as she panicked, watching sickening shadows began to envelop her little hallway.

Scootaloo bit her lip as hard as she could, desperate to chase those thoughts away. It didn't take long for her lips to begin bleeding, which seemed to do the trick. Almost instantly all the bitter thoughts of giving up vanished, leaving her just a tiny ember of hope. She could sense a forbidden sort of magic creep away from the forbidden chamber, just as mysteriously as it had entered. Her body began to itch incessantly.

 _It's getting worse_ , she thought with a shake of her head. It hadn't been the first time she nearly gave into thoughts of despair, and if she didn't hurry to her destination then it would not be her last. Scootaloo then placed her catcher away and rummaged around in her bag until she found a black felt box, inside were several hoof crafted cylinders, crafted from fine wood. On either side, she could see the faint etching of a little bird, a phoenix. Feeling herself yawning, she gently placed the end of one of the cylinders into her muzzle, of all things and firmly placed her hoof on the end side, not unlike the lantern.

The effects were immediate.

She took a few deep breaths as a strange magical substance began pouring into her lungs and into her bloodstream with her nervous system putting out little signals of panic. Her fight or flight response urged her to run, to stop what she was doing and to hide, but she ignored her body's cries for help and finished the substance until the entire thing was drained. When it was done, Scootaloo sighed and blinked in astonishment. She could feel new found energy coursing through her little body while she wings buzzed in excitement. The magic found in the strange capsules were nothing compared to a good night's sleep, but it was the best she could do until her mission was over. She then set the capsule aside which collected alongside several other spent ones and shut the box. She shook her head and lit the lantern again before moving on. The first few steps she was forced to pause while her ears began to ring and she could feel the world began to tilt to the side with a wave of nausea hit her.

"S- stupid capsules," she stuttered while clenching her teeth in pain.

Panting for air she took a long swig of water from her canteen while she waited out the pain. She was wide awake, sure, but that meant her other senses were just as overcharged, too. As if her whole body had just been through a fire. It took a solid five minutes before her body let up so she could continue; it was still somewhat painful, but her body was slowly growing used to the magical drug.

After checking and rechecking the map for probably the fiftieth time, she finally ended up somewhere that wasn't just an endless series of hallways. And she wasn't alone.

"Halt young one, show me your face, prove to me that you lack the dark queen's… _grace_ ," the stranger said, muttering the last word with a grunt of contempt.

Scootaloo stopped in her tracks and quirked a brow, trying to squint through the darkness. Her mini lantern failing to give her many details. "Uh, do you always rhyme like that?"

"...Rhyming is how I learned to speak just like you, but I can see by your tone that your values are not askew," she said and stepped forward. The mare that Scootaloo imagined in her head wasn't at all how she imagined.

"You're a zebra? But… I- I thought you'd be a unicorn!" Scootaloo exclaimed, sounding flustered and annoyed.

For a few moments, she didn't speak and simply circled the young filly, examining her from head to hoof. The Zebra wore a dark looking cloak of some kind which shielded her body. Finally, she spoke.

"Ah, it is most fortunate that a unicorn I am not.

Too many fall to the dark queen's magical rot.

Bane and boon, can a unicorn's horn be,

It has the magic to set fallen ones free.

And to protect the mind, it shields,

From the thought control she wields.

But a horn's magic shines too bright,

It can be seen, as a fire in the black of night.

Because of this, very few who possess a horn are trusted,

Leaving many with horns which are… adjusted…"

"Um, are you saying _she_ can find other ponies by using a unicorn's horn? Th- that she can find ones in hiding by using that?" Scootaloo asked, already feeling the answer in her gut.

She nodded. "Now I must inquire,

Why travel here, is your news dire?"

Scootaloo was about to reach into her saddlebag when she stopped dead in her tracks. "First, sh- show me your lantern," she said, cursing under her breath at just how frightened she sounded.

"Ah, forgive me it must have slipped my mind," she said and quickly waved her hoof over a near-identical lantern to Scootaloo's. It slowly illuminated her face, revealing the finer details. It was then that the small filly promptly screamed. "Calm yourself, surely this proves we are aligned."

It took all of ten seconds for Scootaloo to quiet down as she blushed. "I- I'm s- so- sorry," she stuttered. "It's just, um, you look kind of scary…"

The zebra sighed.

"The queen's scouts saw through my trickery

and gave me this scar upon their victory," she said rather bitterly.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that," Scootaloo said rather dumbly. Though she couldn't help but notice that she hadn't even introduced herself. "I'm Scootaloo by the way."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, young Scootaloo,

Call me Zecora. But believe we have business to do?"

"Huh? Oh!" she exclaimed and hastily rummaged into her bag and found the object of her desire. It was a simple scroll that had been nicely sealed and placed inside of a metal container for safe keeping. The outside of the container had various runes and emblems adorned along the side, but none were more so prominent or important as the main symbol in the center: a shining phoenix, for just like the Phoenix could die and resurrect, so too could the sun.

Carefully the young foal took the capsule and touched it to her lantern. In an instant, the runes shone to life with the same prominent color seen in Celestia's holy sun until the seal finally broke. Zecora smiled and retrieved the scroll from inside while Scootaloo placed the seal carefully back into her bag and waited.

Zecora hummed to herself as she carefully read the scroll over and over. Scootaloo also noticed some of the wording on the parchment would glow dimly, changing the text form the magic of the lantern to reveal something that had been previously hidden. She figured it was a nice way to conceal secrets which were sorely needed in the age of the dark queen.

Zecora continued to carefully read what had been inscribed on the note, making the occasional note on a separate parchment, but Scootaloo began to grow worried. Technically speaking there wasn't anything wrong with getting nervous when you were alone with a strange zebra and were inside a long, dark and forbidden hallway. That was a perfectly sane thing to feel. But something about the whole situation felt off to Scootaloo. She hadn't done many deliveries before, Zecora being the first of hopefully many to come, but the unnerving silence really wasn't helping her stay calm. Suddenly an even stronger disquieting metamorphosis was sensed by the young filly, somehow getting even more muted. She glanced over to Zecora to make sure that she was alright, and no dark magic had gotten to her mind, though the zebra continued to read as if nothing was wrong with the world.

 _Easy, Scootaloo. Things are fine, she's just translating the runes or something. Easy_ , she thought as she nervously glanced down to a few strange devices in her saddlebag. One probably wouldn't be of much help if they got caught, being a simple first aid kit. The second was a magically enchanted flare, meant to alert the _Shining Phoenix_ to _not_ come visit whatever place where the blaze would have gone off. In retrospect, Scootaloo noticed that it was only really useful for aiding the _Shining Phoenix_ by warning them of threats in case of capture; she'd been instructed to only use it if defeat was imminent.

 _Kind of useless if you want to get rescued though…_ she thought bitterly.

The third and final item was effectively a weapon of sorts, which thankfully had gone unused in her travels. While it no doubt would be useful in case of actual emergencies, Scootaloo didn't very much enjoy the weapon's origin, as the Queen's "Shadow Guard" had long ago figured a way to outfit their soldiers, namely Earth Ponies with some magic of their own. Carefully her hoof rubbed the side of the case which held a spiraling horn, what was strange about it wasn't that it was a unicorn's horn or even the fact that it was attached to no actual head or body. No, the strangest thing, that made Scootaloo queasy to even think about, was the lack of actual skin found on the horn. It was simply a small, spirling horn made from bone with a few strange runes attached to it.

Breaking her chain of thoughts, Zecora finally spoke again.

"This map is indeed what I've been after,

a way to escape from this disaster.

Though without magic to enchant the way,

I fear we'll all be stuck here at bay."

Scootaloo tilted her head in confusion, trying to decipher the meaning in her words. "Um, do you mean we need unicorn magic?"

She nodded. "But finding somepony we can trust

will surely lead to a bust," she said quite bitterly.

Scootaloo looked inside her bag and motioned for Zecora to look inside at a particular item, a case of some kind. The zebra merely shook her head.

"While that is an effective way to defend,

its lack of powerful magic will surely lead to our end."

Scootaloo shook her head and moaned. "Drat. Where's the map lead anyway?"

Zecora smirked.

"The map is a very useful guide,

for if we can activate this mirror," Zecora said while gesturing to something that Scootaloo hadn't even noticed before, "we can use it to find a place to hide."

Scootaloo blinked and looked over to the large, towering object. She supposed it was a mirror, but in the darkness, it looked like a large slab of some kind. Ignoring Zecora for a moment, she walked up to the thing and shone her lantern onto it. In the small details that she could make out, Scootaloo noted that the thing was quite ornate in design. It was nicely curved with iron metal bars bent around the sides for decoration. Five gems had been studded on both sides with a larger gem stuck in the middle at the very top. There was also a few other designs higher up that she couldn't quite see. The thing was certainly massive. Though when her lantern got near, she could just tell that it wasn't giving off near enough magic to activate it, so she sighed.

"So this could be a way out? A way to escape that- that _bitch_ of a queen," Scootaloo said but not before spitting on the ground.

Zecora nodded. "Yes but-"

"A **bitch** is she?!" A voice said from behind, interrupting Zecora. Both ponies whipped around with their eyes widening in horror.

Before either could even comprehend who stood before them, a torrent of lavender colored magic was shot in their direction, smacking both recipients into a nearby wall. Scootaloo felt dazed, her vision blurring as the dark world around her tried to refocus itself.

Zecora acted much sooner and forced herself into a defensive stance, standing between their assailants and Scootaloo's dizzy stature.

"- I'm afraid the queen's servants are after its power,

if we fall here then it's not just our world that will sour!"

The apparent leader of the ponies stepped forward into the dim light, a sickening smile plastered on her face. The pony in question was none other than Twilight Sparkle, Queen Nightmare Moon's second in command. Her horn had been severely altered, sticking straight up in a threatening manner, it no longer looked like a soft spirling unicorn horn but more like a tool or a weapon meant for war. Just like all of the Queen's slaves and army, her once proud cutie mark had been altered to show who she now was. A six-pointed star cast in the moon's shadow. "Now then, I'm feeling a tad generous today. Apologize and I'll spare you both your lives, so long as you come quietly."

Zecora raised a strange artifact high in the air, a staff with a glowing blue gem placed on its end. Scootaloo watched the two while she clenched her teeth in pain. Scootaloo quickly reached for her bag only to sucker punched in the gut by one of Twilight's guards. She couldn't see just who did it, but that was how they choose to fight, in the shadows. Clenching in pain and unable to breathe, Scootaloo shakily stood up to her hooves.

Twilight snorted. "A smart pony would have stayed down, little one…"

Scootaloo gulped, eyeing her bag with a sense of defeat.

 _I'm going to die, aren't I?_ she thought and with very little thought for her own well being, she leapt back to her bag and dug in as quickly as her little hooves would allow.

Time seemed to slow once she reached for the case of her desire and she smashed it, reaching for the boned unicorn horn. Then she felt horrid pain creeping up her spine, a knife puncturing her if she wasn't mistaken. She screamed while the shadow guard punched and kicked where her wings connected to her spine; it was a particularly sensitive spot. Good for causing pain.

In her haste, she dropped the horn and what happened next felt like a dream or a nightmare. She was kicked to the side while Zecora seemed to be holding her own, dodging spells and even going on the offensive occasionally taking out a guard by knocking them unconscious. Scootaloo still felt dizzy, but she recognized a few of them as the Queen's personal guard. A crazy pink mare with a long straight mane and the one who had caught more innocent ponies than any of her guard combined: Rainbow Dash. It was no secret the level of depravity the guard went in order to serve the queen so loyally.

Not knowing what to do and feeling like she could barely put up a fight, Scootaloo carefully crawled over to her bag and held onto it, clutching the thing for dear life.

"Commendable at how much punishment you zebras can take. Just join us already, I'm sure the Queen will have a good use for you. And look, your little partner's already given up anyway," Twilight said nonchalantly.

Zecora chuckled quite darkly at this, though Twilight merely looked on in amusement.

"You are toying with me, stop playing pretend,

show me your full strength or face your end."

And with that, Zecora raised her staff and twirled the thing several times as if to say, bring it on.

Scootaloo looked on in shock. _I- is she crazy?!_ she thought. Antagonizing Twilight Sparkle, the mistress of fire, the dark queen's right hoof was quite possibly the stupidest thing you could do.

Rainbow Dash and the pink menace went to step forward, but Twilight merely shook them down which they obeyed. "There's no winning this, Zebra. You can either die here with your friend, or surrender. Your choice," she said rather calmly, all things considered.

Scootaloo didn't wish to die, and she certainly didn't want to join up with the Dark Queen. _What the hay do I do?!_

Zecora didn't have anything left to say and merely held her stance, waiting, practically beginning for the mare to assault her.

Twilight sighed and shook her head. "Such a waste. Very well, you've made your decision. What of you, young one? Will you join up with our queen? Will you let eternal darkness into your heart? The promise of infinite power?" Twilight's eyes had twitched a few times while speaking as if she were crazy.

Scootaloo gulped but did nothing.

"Of course," Twilight said with a smirk and begin to charge up her horn. A sickening laugh from both the pink mare and Rainbow echoed around the halls while the leader's horn, eyes, and body began to glow from dark violet to a crimson red.

For the second time that night, time began to slow from Scootaloo's perspective as her short, simple life flashed before her very eyes. She saw her birth, playing as a younger child, making a few friends and then everything went to absolute hell. The sun stopped shining, ponies were enslaved, exiled or killed by the queen's orders. She could see her parents… Scootaloo bit her lip but gasped upon opening them. The flash of her spell had finally gone off while Zecora smirked.

Hurdling into her face at impossible speeds was a giant orange flaming ball of magic, fit to set her pegasus body ablaze. Her vision was then filled with the back of Zecora's staff the second she twirled it, aiming the tip so that Twilight's spell would hit it dead on. The staff was struck, but rather than delivering a crushing blow, it merely began to glow.

"I'm quite fond of this staff you know,

and it will help me deliver the killing blow."

Twilight's smirk vanished as she began to shriek. "INSOLENT FOAL! YOU DARE DEFY THE DARK QUEEN IN SUCH A WAY?! YOU DARE STEAL HER MAGIC?! YOU WILL DIE IN THE MOST PAINFUL WAYS I CAN POSSIBLY IMAGINE!"

Scootaloo could think to do nothing but sneak away so she could latch onto her saddlebag. She secured it around her back and went to pick up the boned horn, shocked when she finally was able to lift it without resistance.

Zecora sighed and shook her head.

"Perhaps one day I shall meet my end,

but this binding spell I've used on you is a godsend."

Scootaloo gasped, noticing just now the sickening glare Twilight had been giving them, struggling to do anything aside from grunt and breathe. Zecora had trapped Twilight and her allies in place.

"Oh, I get it! You-"

Zecora scoffed, interrupting her.

"Scootaloo, hurry and strike them,

before they cause more mayhem!"

Scootaloo's eyes widened in shock and she nodded, fumbling with the boned unicorn horn before suddenly holding it out in a tight grip. Next, she quickly donned the thing over her head while tightening a strap around the back. The horn rested just above her eyes, not unlike a real unicorn would. It felt almost sickening to her, a warm feeling seeping into her mind, a slow buzz and then a painful feeling, letting her know that the weapon was ready. She grunted and seethed in pain, pointing it directly at Twilight. Seeing this, Zecora directed her staff toward Scootaloo in an effort to aid her with her magic. Both of their spells seemed to go off at the same time.

 _This is for my parents you bitch_ , she thought and then an equally sickening spell to the one Twilight had cast just moment's before let loose with the fury of a thousand suns. It was so blinding that Scootaloo was forced to keep her eyes shut while she screamed in pain. All sound ceased to exist for the young filly for the remainder of the explosion duration. When things finally did settle, Scootaloo still had her eyes shut tight with her teeth clenched, unaware that it was indeed safe to look again.

"The mirror has been awoken,

hurry before the link is broken!"

Zecora ran up to the mirror and held up her map while muttering to herself, She then began using her staff to enchant the various runes on the side, changing and twisting them until she was satisfied that they matched what she read.

Scootaloo blinked and looked around and gasped at the disgusting sight of three very bloodied and burned corpses. The stench wafting from them was bad enough that Scootaloo Could feel her insides gas; there was no mistaking that all three had no survived the final blow.

"Hurry through the portal, now!"

Scootaloo blinked in shock and grabbed her bag before stepping forward. When a magical rhyming zebra told you to do something without rhyming, that's when you listened.

Before stepping in, she glanced over to Zecora with a frown. "Wh- what about you? And the rest of the Shining Phoenix?"

"I will jump in once you're safely hidden,

for jumping in together is surely forbidden.

If my calculations are correct,

where it sends us should be perfect.

As for the Phoenix from what I've learned,

I'm sorry but they have already adjourned.

Sending you for something this crucial surely

means their numbers are no longer fruitful.

Rest assured, given enough time they will fall,

now please hurry and enter, get on the ball!"

No longer hesitating, Scootaloo sighed and slowly entered the shimmering blue portal. She still didn't fully understand what was going to happen, but she figured anywhere was better than the nightmare that used to be her home. She took one last long look at Zecora before the world faded into nothing.


	2. Chapter Two: Crying Reflection

For a moment Scootaloo could sense nothing as she seemed to float around in a dreamless state of limbo. She cracked her eyes open for a second and had to suppress a gasp on what she saw. It was two fillies who seemed to be in dazed and confused states, both rubbing their eyes. She could swear she saw a third, but really she could only confirm the existence of one Earth Pony filly and one Unicorn. She closed her eyes, pretending to play dead and waited. The filly in question walked over to what she presumed was her position.

Then she heard the unicorn filly scream so loud, it took all of her willpower in order to stay still. "Sh- she's dead!"

The other filly snorted and then Scootaloo felt something on her chest, presumably the filly's ear. _Is she checking my pulse…?_ Scootaloo thought.

"Nah, she's plum tuckered out. The thing once happened to Big Mac when he worked the farm for too long."

The unicorn laughed embarrassingly. "Oh! Uh, I knew that…"

"What happened to the mirror, girls?"

That's when Scootaloo cracked her eyes wide open. She knew that voice, specifically because it was _her_ voice coming from a third filly. Taking her chance, Scootaloo quickly got up into a position behind the mirror and waited.

"What?" The other Scootaloo asked in utter confusion.

Scootaloo took the opportunity and lurched at them, tackling the bow wearing earth filly to the ground. The unicorn filly and the other Scootaloo was knocked into the clubhouse walls in a daze.

The knocked down Scootaloo shook her head and tried to focus on the assailant, but her vision was blurry. The earth pony grunted, attempting to buck her in the head, only to be tackled to the ground, Scootaloo snarled down at her like some deranged animal. The earth pony flinched and waited for an assault, but nothing came.

Scootaloo looked around, surveying her surroundings. Looking at everything and everypony like it was all alien to her.

 _Where the hay am I?!_ her thoughts going a mile a minute.

Once their eyes had adjusted, both fillies gasped at the sight before them. "Scoota-?" The earth pony tried to get out, before being interrupted by Scootaloo.

"Where am I?" She asked, her voice hoarse yet sounded oddly familiar. The earth pony gulped and tried to push her off, but to no avail while Scootaloo simply pushed back harder. "Answer me, now!"

"Hey! Get off of her, you freak!" The other Scootaloo screamed. Standing between the unicorn and Scootaloo.

Scootaloo pointed her hoof and glared at the imposter filly. "You stay put if you know what's good for you!"

"Scoots, ar- are you okay?" The earth pony asked though she had to pant a bit as Scootaloo was not letting up one bit. "Kind of hard to speak no- now…" The filly said, her breath sounding extremely hoarse.

 _Probably not a good idea to knock her out…_ Scootaloo thought and let up a bit.

"Where am I?" Scootaloo repeated.

"Uh, th- the Crusader Clubhouse. You're on Sweet Apple Acres farm."

Scootaloo looked out a nearby window to confirm her state, what she saw caused her to quietly gasp.

 _It's sunlight…_ it was the only thing she could think. Over and over it was repeated in her head. The Sun.

"Could ya get off me?"

Breaking from her thoughts, Scootaloo sighed but did no such thing. "Wh- why do you have the mirror?"

The pegasus filly looked her over for several moments before finally speaking. "Scootaloo?"

Scootaloo merely grunted before narrowing her eyes.

"Well? Are you gonna apologize for attacking us? It wasn't very nice, you know," The earth filly said, the others nodding to agree.

"I'm not hearing any information about that mirror," Scootaloo said irritably.

"Okay, that does it!" The downed filly exclaimed and buckled as hard as she could, taking the signal, Scootaloo did her best to tackle the other Scootaloo looking pony to the ground, but the filly was quite fast and dodged out of the way, but not before the farm filly slipped loose.

Scootaloo scowled and backed up, narrowing her eyes suspiciously toward all of them. The other three studied her, finding the situation bizarre. Scootaloo backed up a tad feeling her bag bump into a wall. Her wing stiffened from her fresh wound as blood continued to pool around it.

The unicorn backed up a bit and shuddered in fear. "M- maybe she's a changeling! Like at Twilight's brother's wedding!"

"...A _What_? I'm no changeling!"

"A likely story! That's just what a changeling _would_ say!" The other Scootaloo challenged.

"Well… maybe…" The marshmallow filly replied, feeling a tad unsure of the whole situation.

The farm filly glanced at her, shaking her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Rarity said that changelings feed on love."

The other Scootaloo snorted. "And?"

"Well, trying to hit somepony isn't a very good way to do that."

She considered this and eventually nodded. "I guess not…"

"Now look, ah don't know what's going on but what you just did ain't no way to treat others. And, well, frankly you both look like Scootaloo. It's very strange, but ah guess either of you could be changelings."

Still not letting up her guard, reluctantly Scootaloo gave a stiff nod. "I suppose."

"So what, we just sit here not trusting one another?" The other Scootaloo asked with a snort.

"Look, you, I don't trust anypony or anything."

"Not even your own eyes? I'm Apple Bloom, that's Sweetie Belle, we're your friends. Well, we're also Scootaloo's friends, which there's two of you. But you get what ah mean, right?"

Scootaloo shook her head. "I don't know either of you, all I know is that I'm Scootaloo, and if what you're saying is true, so is she. This will be a heck of a lot less confusing if you just tell me why that mirror is in your little clubhouse. Please."

The other Scootaloo took a seat next to her, examining the filly, scrutinizing every inch of her. "Are you okay, by the way? You, uh, you got a bit of bl- blood on your back," she said, stuttering a bit in fear. It wasn't every day you saw a filly so young looking so violent. A small, yet deep wound had been cut into the filly's side, right next to her right wing. It was bleeding quite profusely, dripping some into the clubhouse wood flooring.

"I'm fine, mirror, talk, now!"

"Look, we don't know much about it. We were trying to get our cutie marks in… something so Scootaloo here borrowed the mirror from Twilight. But it started acting funny and glowing all orange. We heard some shouting, kind of sounded like your voice. Then a- ah guess you popped out, and that's really all we know."

"So you don't even know what it is? At all?"

Three silly, adorable fillies all shook their heads. The wounded filly sighed and almost seemed to be laughing.

"Uh, alright. You don't seem to be lying. Hmm…"

There was an equal bit of silence from both parties as they stared at one another awkwardly.

"Now would mind explaining just why you attacked us like that?"

Scootaloo ignored her and glanced out the window, seemingly staring at something. Everypony remained silent, waiting for a response. After a moment of awkward silence, the orange filly stood up and walked outside, still staring blankly at the farm's various trees and flora. She swallowed then felt along the tree which held the clubhouse.

 _It's real. It's alive_ , she thought in a daze. Everything felt like a dream to her, or like waking up from a horrible nightmare only to find herself in an improbable yet beautiful dream.

"Um, gettin' a little bit friendly with our tree th- there…" Apple Bloom muttered, a sense of dread seeping into her consciousness.

The fillies glanced at one another rather uncomfortably. There was a strange filly, who looked and sounded like Scootaloo. She had attacked all three of them, came out of Twilight's freaky magical mirror and was bruised and bloodied. And yet she wouldn't stop rubbing their tree like it was an old friend.

Scootaloo finally did break away from the tree and stared at the orchard, at Celestia's gleaming sun shining over everything. A long stream of tears began to leak from her eyes. Despite the attack, the three of them couldn't but look on in pity. A bloodied filly, crying just from the sight of a tree.

Timidly Apple Bloom approached her and took a seat. The other Scootaloo sighed and did the same, but what Sweetie Belle did surprise the lot of them. She reached out and began hugging the crying filly for all she was worth.

"Uh, Sw-Sweetie I don't think, um…" The other Scootaloo tried to get out, but instead of pushing her away, the filly merely looked on in shock, not knowing how to respond.

Though it had been the other Scootaloo's intent to warn her friend that perhaps this new filly wasn't up for hugging, really it was the fact that a large part of Sweetie's brilliant coat was now stained a deep dark blood red. Scootaloo merely gawked in confusion. When she didn't stop, Apple Bloom nudged her side.

 _It feels nice…_ she thought, her brain sending her conflicting messages. Everything felt unreal like she really was trapped in a dream.

 _This can't be a dream, right?_ she thought uncertainty. It was unlikely unless of course her dreamcatcher had been lost or discarded somehow. Though she doubted the dark queen would let something so wonderful go on for so long unless it was her intent to torture her… which was possible.

"Uh, I think she's had enough huggin'. Why are ya doing that anyway?"

"Cause, she's crying. I always feel better after a big hug from my sis, when I cry."

Scootaloo blushed and started shoving Sweetie off of her. "I wa- was _not_ crying!" she stuttered, her voice squeaked with just a hint of nervousness though. The other two also suspected the sudden hug may have brought on a fresh bout of pain from her wound.

Sweetie shrugged and let go. "If you say so…"

The other two fillies coughed into her their hoof, while Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle in an awkward, painful silence. When the unicorn didn't get the hint, they coughed louder, but still no coherent response.

"Sweetie Belle…" Apple Bloom said rather slowly while pointing toward her coat.

"What? Is there something in my mane?!" She asked, feeling all around it. "Oh, Rarity will kill me!"

Scootaloo merely shook her head. "Um, I'm really sorry about attacking you three. And, uh, about your coat…"

Sweetie Belle blinked in confusion and looked down, her pupils shrinking into pinpricks. She then promptly screamed and in a fashion befitting her bigger sister's little fits, and then she promptly passed out.

[hr]

Scootaloo sighed and pressed her ear to the unicorn filly's chest. _I think the other filly said her name was Sweetie Tune? Belle?_ she thought, not that it mattered much to her. She was simply making sure that she was okay. She heard a nice steady beat of her heart and she nodded.

"She sh-"

"Step away from that filly, now!" a mare's voice said, interrupting her.

Both fillies flinched while Scootaloo backed up rather quickly. Looking up her eyes suddenly shrunk to pinpricks. Her mind went blank while she tried to comprehend who the mare was. While slightly different looking, she was unmistakably Applejack, though she lacked the queen's mark.

She watched while Applejack checked Sweetie Belle over for injuries and seemed to look confused when she found nothing. Checking her pulse over, she sighed in relief.

"Alright… ah'm not sure what's going on here, but ah want the truth! And… why do you look like one another? And just where in sam hill did this blood come from?"

Scootaloo could only stare off into space, fear striking her heart. Urging her to run and find safety, but she was simply rooted to the ground.

"Well?!"

Scootaloo could only shake in fear, her mind unwilling to cooperate or respond. Applejack sighed then turned to face the other two fillies.

"Apple Bloom, explain. Now."

"Um, well Scootaloo here-"

Applejack interrupted. "Which Scootaloo?" while it sounded like a silly question, Apple Bloom could tell her big sister was being deadly serious.

"Th- this one," she said while pointing to her friend beside her. "She, um, kind of took-"

"Borrowed," The pegasus corrected.

Grunting in irritation, Apple Bloom nodded. "She _borrowed_ Twilight's magic mirror, um, experiment. Before we knew what was happening, the thing lit up like crazy and all this magic exploded, or somethin' and out popped her," Apple Bloom said, pointing to the physically hurt Scootaloo, who still hadn't said anything.

Applejack turned to Scootaloo and squinted her eyes. "That true?"

Scootaloo finally snapped out of her daze and quickly nodded. She didn't have much to say to the mare though, so again she decided to remain silent.

"Well, okay. So did any of you three," Applejack said while pointing to the three silly fillies, "do anything to Twilight's mirror?" she asked in a calm, collective manner.

They all shook their heads. "No! Well, um…" Sweetie blushed while Applejack quirked a brow at her impatiently. "I was going to use my magic on it, but then it just started glowing and going crazy on its own. It happened before we could do anything, miss Applejack."

She nodded in understanding. "Hmm. Oh and just Applejack is fine, Sweetie Belle. Okay, then that begs the question…" Applejack, however, trailed off and starting looking at Scootaloo before bristling her features and shaking her head. "You know what? This can wait, let me take a look at those wings of yours, sugarcube," she said in a calm manner.

"Suga- sugarcube," Scootaloo stuttered, her brain feeling like it was going on fire. Applejack didn't seem to notice this and began to walk closer. Still frozen in horror, Scootaloo did nothing until the mare began touching the tops of her back. Alarm bells which had been resting deep inside of her flight or fight response starting blazing off. She could sense and see, quite clearly, just what Applejack, the queen's knight had done to so many innocent ponies. She felt their pain, and she could see every single one she had hurt. In that instant, the happy, calm and warm breeze turned to a cold, wild wind. The warm, comforting feeling of the sun's rays changed to the freezing embrace of the dark moon. Everything suddenly felt wrong and in that instant, Scootaloo flinched back at an impossibly fast rate. Looking up at Applejack the dark knight with wide, fearful eyes.

Applejack looked shocked before shaking her head. "Look, I know it hurts but I just need to look it over so I can patch ya up, okay?"

Scootaloo's eyes remained in their fear induced state, still sized to deadly pinpricks. "I- I'm fine. I can p- patch myself," she muttered quietly.

Applejack stopped moving and tilted her head in confusion. "That so?"

Scootaloo closed her eyes and tried to will away the queen's nightmares. She knew it couldn't possibly be real, not anymore. But it didn't stop her from feeling fear, and feeling like she really was back in the nightmarish wasteland that had once been her home.

 _Is this even real?_ she thought but then shook her head, figuring for now it didn't matter too much.

After a few moments of this, she gently opened her eyes and was relieved to see everything brought back to normal. Even if a calm, peaceful and happy farm wasn't exactly normal to her anymore, it still helped her feel better.

"Here," Scootaloo said and she gently reached into her saddlebag and quickly took out a first aid kit. Stamped on the top of the metal tin was the symbol of the Shining Phoenix; Applejack examined it in confusion but Scootaloo ignored this. She quickly started digging around for some gauze and cleaning supplies before getting to work.

There was a long, awkward silence while she cleaned up her wounds and starting patching things up as best as she could. Applejack looked somewhat impressed, but it didn't stop the situation from feeling strange. The other fillies merely waited in silence, silently praying that they had avoided punishment.

With the final bandage in place, she put everything away and packed it secretly into her sack for later. "S- see? So I'm fine, but thanks…" she said rather unenthusiastically.

"Well beggin' your pardon, um, Scootaloo is it?" Both Scootaloo and the other pegasus looked up at this, though it was clear she was only addressing the one who came from the magic mirror.

"...Yeah," she finally said after another moment of thought.

"Okay, you don't look fine. But ah suppose you did prove that you can look after yourself," she stated. There was a quick pause before she continued, "Still, what ah need to know is, how did you get here?"

 _...Buck_ , was all she could think.

Zecora hadn't exactly given her any instructions, just that the mirror would more than likely give her someplace to hide, so she could stay safe. She thought about it for a while then remembered back to the other Scootaloo's story and smiled a bit.

"Um, I was messing with a mirror, just like the one up in their little clubhouse," she said, the other fillies seemed to take offense to that but said nothing. "I think there was a misfired spell and it sort of activated and, uh, yeah," she finished lamely.

"Okay, misfired spell from who?"

"Twilight Sparkle," was the immediate reply, after that she simply decided to button her lip.

"Ah see. Okay… hmm. Well ah don't really know what to do here. And ah really don't understand how there's two of you. Just…" Applejack trailed off, figuring that this was all Scootaloo was gonna say. "Fine. Apple Bloom, ah want you two to take this mirror back to Twilight's place and do your best to explain what happened."

The other Scootaloo and the farm filly glanced at one another before shrugging. They hesitated, however, when they both glanced back to their unicorn friend.

"I'll get her cleaned up and wake her, don't worry about Sweetie Belle."

They nodded and began the tedious task of getting the mirror back, Apple Bloom would later wonder just how her friend even got it there in the first place. Scootaloo watched them leave and was soon left alone with the farm mare, pondering what to do.

"Well, ah reckon we better get her inside and cleaned up, give me a sec," Applejack said and began to pick her up.

"Uh, I think I can wake her up. Hang on," Scootaloo said suddenly and began to sift through her bag. "Let's see… lantern? No. Case? No… here we go!"

Applejack squinted her eyes and stared at a strange looking vial that was outstretched in her hooves. "What's dat?"

Scootaloo didn't respond immediately and quickly uncapped it before walking over to the downed unicorn filly. "Smelling salts."

Scootaloo gently lowered the tiny jar under Sweetie's nose and waited while the small bits of aroma traveled up her nostrils, the effect was almost immediate. Sweetie's eyes were blasted open while she looked around in confusion. Thinking quickly, Scootaloo pulled the salts away and capped it again.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Sweetie grunted and nodded. "Uh, y- yeah but that really stings. What was that stuff?"

Scootaloo shrugged. "I don't really know what's in it, but it should be harmless. Sorry, but we had to get you up."

Applejack couldn't make heads or tails of the strange filly as she shook her head. "Sweetie? We should probably get ya cleaned up, c'mon now."

The filly blinked and had to resist the powerful urge to scream, instead she hopped onto her hooves and nodded. "Please, bath… blood! NOW!"

[hr]

Scootaloo waited off to the side while Applejack filled a basin with warm water. She wasn't sure what to say or do, but it gave her time to think. Occasionally she would glance up at the sun and smile, if only slightly.

 _It's really there… can this be real?_

Hesitantly, she got onto her hooves and discarded her saddlebag on the ground. She then walked over to a nearby apple tree and felt all around it.

 _Feels real._

Next, she took a big sniff, and could faintly smell fresh air and the oh so subtle aroma of apples.

 _Smells real._

She began to drool ever slightly at the sight of the tree's delicious looking fruit. She even licked her lips slightly, giving them a hungry stare. It wasn't as though you went without eating while in the military, but meals were still scarce and even if you got a decent meal, the plants and veggies found within were a shadow of their former selves; unable to flourish without the sun's rays helping things along. Really it was a miracle they could grow things.

"Sweetie's all clean, Scootaloo. Ah, um, you two should probably go visit Twilight. She'll know what to do and how to send ya on back."

 _Send me back…_ ‽

Scootaloo really wasn't sure how to respond to that. Of course they'd want to set things right; after all, it was her who told them so little of what happened. It was her who lied about it, too. She could feel the back of her wings begin to itch at the mere thought of ever going back. She resisted the urge to scratch and slowly nodded at the mare.

"Uh, okay. Right."

Sweetie Belle came up behind her, looking a tad exhausted from the whole ordeal, but much cleaner. Applejack stood off to the side, unsure what else to say.

"Uh, you okay?" Sweetie asked her suddenly, breaking Scootaloo from her thoughts.

"What? Oh, yes. Sorry. I- I guess we're going to Twilight's place?"

Sweetie shrugged. "Well, yeah, but you just kept looking up at that tree there. Are you hungry?"

Scootaloo wanted to scream out a definite yes but decided for a more subtle approach. She giggled slightly. "Heh, yeah I guess it's been a while since I last ate."

This set off a few more alarm bells in Applejack's head, but the mare kept her cool. "Well, here," she said quickly and turned around and then reared up her hind legs and aiming at a nearby tree. She then bucked it forward for all she was worth and well over a dozen apples shot off their branches, showering the two fillies. "Take a few for the road."

Scootaloo smiled and grabbed a couple, stuffing them in her bag. "Uh, t- thanks, miss Applejack."

The mare smiled. "You can call me just Applejack, or AJ for short, youngin'. And you're very welcome."

Sweetie began munching on her apple quietly and then hummed with a warm smile. "Hmmm, so good! Ready?"

Scootaloo nodded and then donned her bag. The two began to canter off toward the town of Ponyville, though Applejack's voice stopped them.

"You sure you'll be alright?"

Scootaloo wasn't entirely sure if she meant going off on their own, or if the question was directed at her. She merely gave the best fake smile she could muster and nodded. "We'll be fine, but thanks!"

In return, Applejack gave the most unsure stare she could muster but nodded all the same. "Alright, just come see me if you two need anything."

As they walked, Sweetie couldn't help but notice that Scootaloo's frown hadn't left her. "You okay?"

"Huh?" She blinked and looked over, Sweetie Belle looked on in concern. "Yeah, thanks. Let's just get there. I- I guess I'm hungry," she said and reached behind her to find an apple. Without thinking she began munching away at the thing and paused in her step. She froze and it took Sweetie Belle half a minute before she realized her new friend was no longer following.

Sweetie turned back while Scootaloo slowly swallowed her fruit. Finally, Scootaloo blinked once and then hastily and calmly devoured the apple in the span of three solid seconds.

"Wow, uh, heh, didn't know you were _that_ hungry."

The sweet juices, the perfect texture on the skin and the delectable taste all combined to form something magical, something that was almost unreal.

 _Tastes real…_

Scootaloo began shaking slightly while she did her level best to hold in her tears. Her brain wasn't quite sure why she wanted to cry, or why she did before, but her body knew all too well. She was happy for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime ago. She bit her lip and clenched her teeth and was able to cease the small flow of tears.

 _Keep it together, Scoots…_

Sweetie Belle sighed and walked back over to her and took a seat. Scootaloo watched in confusion and backed up a bit. "Are you sure you don't need another hug or something? You really look like you do and-"

"I'm f-fine," she stuttered and quickly wiped her eyes, though she could feel a horrid itch bubble up again near her wings.

"Let's just go."

She nodded and they continued on. When they reached the front gates, two guards stood out in front. Each was a stallion and wore an oddly colored armor. It was a mixture of Twilight Sparkle's coat and mane color. To Scootaloo, they looked like something out a children's book; to Sweetie Belle, they looked pretty.

"I'm just saying that lavender doesn't really go with… halt!" The guard trailed off and immediately stopped talking to the other. "State your- wait, didn't you just come in through here?" he muttered while looking at the clone filly suspiciously.

 _Why does she have a castle…?_ her thoughts mulled over this before shrugging. She had to get inside.

Scootaloo slowly nodded. "Yeah, Twilight sent me back out to go grab, uh, Sweetie Belle here."

The guard remained stoic. "I didn't see you leave," he said, pointing out the obvious.

She snorted. "Duh, I took the back exit. Are you gonna let us in or not?" she shot back irritably.

The guard huffed and leaned down with a scowl. "Little filly, I think you're being awfully rude. I'm asking these questions for Princess Twilight's protection-"

"Princess…? I…" Her voice trailed off while she shook her head, interrupting him, "Well you're, uh… not doing a very good job!"

Sweetie gasped. "Scootaloo! That was so rude! Apologize!" Sweetie demanded, glaring at her.

Scootaloo continued to glare at the stallion, while the other guard remained silent. She turned over to Sweetie and saw the disappointed look. She took a deep breath with closed eyes. She then opened her eyes and turned back to the guard. "Sorry, can we just come inside? We really need to see Twilight-"

" _Princess_ Twilight," he corrected.

"Right, Princess Twilight."

He continued to glare, but then a white fluffy thing clouded his vision. Sweetie Belle had walked up and was looking at him while smiling. "Could you please let us in? Mr. Guard? We really do need to see Princess Twilight about something. We promise to be good!"

The two guards nearly broke out in a grin from the obvious contrast between the two fillies. He sighed. "Very well, just don't cause any trouble," he commanded, stepping aside and allowing them to enter, he then called back to Scootaloo, "and none of that attitude with the Princess!"

Scootaloo felt lost the second they entered. A large sprawling hallway greeted them which seemed to go on forever.

Sweetie cleared her throat. "What was that about?"

"I, uh, sorry. I'm used to guards being… um, jerks," she swiftly replied.

"What? Are they evil, where you're from?" she asked with a small giggle.

 _You have no idea_ , she thought, but didn't really feel up to sharing. "Just, nevermind. So how do we find- well, wait, why is Twilight a princess now, anyway?"

Sweetie blinked and reviewed all she knew on what had happened. "Twilight grew wings."

Scootaloo looked back at her skeptically. "That's it? She magicked wings on herself and now she's a princess?"

"I dunno. I think there was a bit more to it than that. You can ask her though."

"Yeah. Do you think-" tried to say, but was interrupted by a rather loud, nasally sounding voice.

"You two did **what**?!" the voice bellowed.

Sweetie and Scootaloo glanced at each other then started running toward it. "We gotta catch up to them!"

The throne room was plain in sight, as they burst in through it, they saw Twilight Sparkle glaring down at Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. Her wings were flared out; but definitely not in excitement.

"Uh, you said it was okay…" Scootaloo said meekly.

"Okay? Why would I ever say it was okay for a filly to _play around_ with that mirror? Do you have any idea what you could have done?!" Twilight screeched, not caring that she was causing the two to shake in fear.

"Hey! Stop yelling at them, it was my fault!" Scootaloo exclaimed, calling Princess Twilight out.

Twilight's eye twitched and she slowly turned around. "...What? You…" Her eyes widened in shock. Dozens of scenarios whizzed through her head. "Changelings, alternative dimensions, magical clones, Nightmare Moon is back seeking revenge disguised as a filly but she didn't have time to dispose of Scootaloo- I need to stop reading such dark stories. Changelings!"

Both fillies' eyes enlarged to the size of dinner plates, even Scootaloo had to admit it sounded dark.

Twilight glanced at Scootaloo and then to the other Scootaloo. She shut her eyes in frustration then sighed. Instantly the doppelganger and Scootaloo were enveloped in her magic, surrounded by a lavender colored glow. As soon as it had come, it stopped. "Not changelings," she announced. Then she rounded back on the still scared Scootaloo, glaring once more. "What did you do?!"

"I said I did it! I was messing with this mirror and then it started glowing and I fell through, uh, your mirror. Okay? It wasn't them," Scootaloo stated confidently.

Twilight's features softened, but she still looked angry. "You still took it without asking."

The other Scootaloo coughed. "You still said yes."

"I did? When?"

"Earlier, you were reading and I asked if I could use it, you said yes."

Twilight thought back, but could just barely remember Scootaloo being in the palace. "I suppose it's possible." She sighed. "Oh, Celestia, I'm sorry for yelling at you two."

The other Scootaloo sniffed and nodded. "I'm sorry for taking it, Twilight."

Twilight quirked a brow down at her. "I thought you just said you didn't take it… at any rate, I forgive you, Scootaloo. But now we have a problem… or maybe two problems."

Scootaloo walked around the mirror, examining it. "Where'd the mirror come from, anyway?"

Twilight simply shook her head in response. "It was being stored in the royal vault for who knows how long. Not even Celestia seemed to know of its presence until I found it."

Sweetie Belle started making funny faces in it. "Can you send her back?"

 _I won't be going back…_ she thought darkly. Again her wings started to itch, this time she actually gave in and awkwardly rubbed them back and forth using one of her hooves, she felt pain on top of the itch but eventually, the feeling subsided.

Scootaloo already had the beginning of a plan to break the mirror into as many pieces as she could get away with. She just needed the right opportunity. A part of her wished to just flat out tell everything, but she barely trusted that what she saw was even real, she sure as hay wasn't going to be trusting everypony on a whim.

 _I could say it now…_ she thought suddenly. She could and it would be so simple, but every time she glanced at Twilight, she would shudder in fear. She _looked_ like a kind mare and it seemed like everything was on the up and up, but that's what made her feel so unsettled.

"I'm not even sure how it works. It's untested. Without the proper knowledge of how its magic works, I could end up sending her anywhere. Or hurting her… I think you're stuck here for now. Which is… not great."

Scootaloo could only blink and nod in response. The Crusaders gave each other an odd, uncomfortable look. Twilight, however, hadn't really been paying much attention.

"Uh, don't panic!" Twilight reassured her. "I can figure this out! But you're gonna have to give me some time first. You said you were messing with a mirror like this? Where are you from?"

 _So she still wants to try and send me back? Hmm, maybe some misinformation will slow her down._ The itch returned. It urged her to keep going, to do the right thing. She bit her lip and eventually blurted out her response.

"Uh, yeah. When Twilight, um, my Twilight wasn't looking I started messing with all the gems and runes on it, you know for fun," she said, sounding completely stupid. "It started glowing and I fell through it. Into their place. Which wasn't… uh, where I had been before?"

"...Why in Celestia's name would you do a thing like that? Who knows how you even configured it?! Oh, Luna, this isn't good! Y- you could be stuck here! W- why would you do something so foalish?!"

In that instant, Twilight's blind fury brought her back to her old world. She could see Nightmare Moon's second in command, ready to strike with blind loyalty. Ready to kill anypony who dared disobey their queen. Scootaloo couldn't help herself as she began to shake while she willed her body to relax.

 _She's not here, she's gone. I saw her die! Relax!_ Fear and pain mixed into her emotions, urging her to act, to do something like _run_. Instead, she could feel her back again start to feel irritated, but she didn't move.

Twilight closed her eyes and sighed, taking calming deep breaths. "I'm sorry, but that was a very, well, not smart thing to do. I'll do my best to get you home, but I really don't know where to start…"

Slowly Scootaloo opened her eyes and no longer saw the dark queen's assassin, but a kind and caring princess mare. She felt slightly better about her predicament, but the memories of what Twilight had done back in her world would still linger, warning her to stay on the defensive.

Apple Bloom suddenly stepped forward and snorted at Twilight. "Well ah do! How are there two of her? Just what does that mirror even do, Twilight?"

The librarian turned princess simply shook her head. "Well, I've had theories, but until she showed up, I wasn't really sure which one could actually be feasible."

Apple Bloom looked at her friends who merely shrugged in confusion, but Scootaloo stepped forward. "What kind of theories?"

Twilight gave Scootaloo a strange looking smile, one with extreme apprehension. "Well, first let me ask you something, is there anything different about Ponyville? Something you don't recognize from where you come?"

She shrugged and nodded. "Sure, you're not a princess where I'm from and you definitely don't have a castle," she exclaimed.

 _And you failed to stop Nightmare Moon and everypony is doomed, there's that!_ she thought rather bitterly.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Twilight suddenly said and started bouncing up and down like an excited filly, only to stop momentarily. "Oh no… no no no. If multi-verse is correct then… oh wow. This is… I don't know how to feel, you know?"

The four fillies glanced at one another before simultaneously smacking their hooves on their faces and slowly rubbing them down in exaggeration.

"Twi," Apple Bloom started, "maybe you wanna let us in on the conversation? Hmm?"

Twilight giggled and blushed. "Heh, heh, right. How do I explain… well, have you fillies been taught about the stars? Our galaxy and the universe?"

Apple Bloom gave a sidelong glance and shrugged, Sweetie Belle nodded but looked unsure of herself while the other Scootaloo started to look bored already. Scootaloo, however, spoke up.

"I know a bit. I know that we live on a planet that we call Equis which sort of orbits around Celestia's sun… but, uh, not really?"

Twilight smiled and nodded while the Crusaders looked on impressed. "Mostly correct, Equis isn't like other planets out there and it's fairly difficult to describe, especially when you start talking about our sun."

Apple Bloom snorted. "But what's that got to do with any of this?"

Twilight smirked. "Everything. But it's gonna be a bit hard to explain if you four haven't been taught about galaxies or the observable universe, yet."

"Well, where I'm from Equis is part of a large galaxy filled with billions of stars. And I know you can see other galaxies out there if you look far enough with a telescope- and I guess we just call all of it the universe."

Twilight clapped her hooves and smiled proudly down at her. "Very good! Have you taken astronomy where you're from?"

Scootaloo gave a hesitant smile and slowly nodded. "Uh, ju- just a bit," she stuttered nervously.

 _More like I was forced into some crazy school where everypony was forced to learn about the stars and how_ _ **she**_ _owned them all…_ she thought bitterly. She shook her head of those dark thoughts and did her best to focus on the present, however.

"With us so far, girls?" Twilight asked but immediately frowned. The other Scootaloo was lying on her back, busy blowing one of her feathers up and down in boredom. Sweetie Belle looked quite bashful and slowly shook her head, while Apple Bloom busy thinking of apples and nothing else.

"Here, I'll try and simplify it. It's possible that this mirror can be used to find other worlds, places different from Equestria which would be housed in their own universe, different from our own."

The four fillies nodded in understanding, so Twilight continued. "Right, well before Scootaloo here showed up, I had assumed these worlds could be anything. They could be completely alien or maybe just barren places, devoid of life- or maybe, other Equestria's."

"But, how could there be more than one Equestria, Twi? There's only one…" Apple Bloom pointed out, feeling more confused than ever.

"I don't have any way of proving there is; Scootaloo here is the only real evidence, but usually the simplest explanation to a problem is the correct one. Just _how_ there's more than one Equestria remains to be seen as I wasn't there when the universe was made, but let's assume there are. Multiverse theory, at least the one I'm thinking of simply proposes there is an infinite number of different universes out there, each slightly different than the last."

Scootaloo nodded, but again the three fillies could only shrug while not seeming to get it in the least.

"Here, uh, Sweetie Belle!"

The filly perked up and bounced onto her hooves. "Yeah?!"

"What did you do this morning? When you woke up?"

"Hmm… well I ate breakfast then hugged Rarity then hugged Opal- oh and then I hugged Rarity again because I thought I hadn't, but she was all "yes you did already but it's nice that you want another" and then I ended up in the clubhouse and here and yeah…" she trailed off at the end, not really sure where Twilight was going with her question.

"Okay, well imagine if you got up and didn't do any of that, or maybe you, well, didn't hug your sister."

"I'd be a bad sister!"

Twilight smacked her hoof to her forehead. "Uh, maybe, but the point would be that you made a different choice. Multiverse proposes that for anypony or anything, there's an infinite number of unique things they can choose to do, each one splitting off into their own universe."

At that point, even Scootaloo felt a tad confused, but slowly nodded along. Thankfully the three silly fillies could only smack their hooves on their heads and sigh.

"Uh, right, too complicated. Just think of it like this: there's an Equestria for every single choice. One where maybe you three didn't form the Crusaders, or maybe one where I'm not a princess or maybe something as mundane as Rarity wore a pink dress instead of a purple one. Even something as insane as one of us born as a colt instead of a filly, but to the same family. For every possible choice, there's an Equestria with it. Well, that's the theory anyway. Or should I say theories?"

Scootaloo finally understood and was shocked to hear it. It made sense, seeing everything she had seen thus far, but it made her feel rather unsettled for reasons she couldn't quite explain. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had other responses.

"Oh cool! So there's a world where I'm a Wonderbolt?!" the other Scootaloo asked, bouncing on her hooves over and over.

"Or I'm a famous singer?"

"Or maybe one where ah'm a pegasus?!"

Both fillies gave Apple Bloom a weird look from that while the earth pony blushed. "...What?! Flying sounds like fun!"

They all giggled at this and began going on and on about all the possibilities.

"Twilight! Could you show us some worlds?! Please?!" They all said in unison. "Please!"

The princess chuckled at their enthusiasm but slowly shook her head. "Sorry girls, but I hardly know how it works. I haven't even activated it myself since I was still studying it until this happened. I'll have to do some serious research and scientific study or Scootaloo may never get home."

 _Let's hope I don't go home…_ Bitterness didn't even begin to describe how she felt, but she felt somewhat better about her lies. It would slow the princess down and give her ample time to destroy the mirror.

Deep down, she wanted to say something. To fully inform the 'princess' so she could set things right. During the war, trust was not easily earned and it certainly wasn't a given.

 _You may not be the same Twilight, but you're still Twilight. All of you failed us…_ Scootaloo decided then and there that Princess Twilight was not to be trusted. It wasn't exactly irrational to think this, after all, skepticism and mistrust had kept her alive so far. Why stop now?

The three fillies pouted and gave a unified 'awwww', but nodded.

"Well, I'll have to look into this. In the meantime, I'll have to deal with something much more dangerous," she stated firmly.

Scootaloo looked up, raising a brow. "What?"

Twilight laughed, almost snorting. Her eyes twitched and it was apparent she was extremely nervous. "Telling your parents there's now two of their daughter and they have to take care of both of you."

Scootaloo raised a brow and quickly glanced over to her counterpart. To her amazement, all the other one seemed to be doing was chuckling.

"Oh crud, mom's gonna freak, dad will probably joke about it but I bet he'd be cool with it."

The words echoed in Scootaloo's mind over and over as if she couldn't comprehend what she was hearing.

"Yeah, sounds like fun to me," Twilight sarcastically replied, shaking her head. "Princess's give me strength."

"Aren't you a princess too?" Apple Bloom pointed out.

Twilight smiled rather sheepishly. "Right, I seem to forget that quite a bit. Heh, well, let's get moving. C'mon you two," she ordered to the two Scootaloo's, urging them to follow.

"Ah guess we'll see you later Scoots and uh, other Scoots," Apple Bloom said and they waved.

"Yeah see ya I- uh, are you okay?" the other Scootaloo asked, glancing at the stunned pegasus. Twilight stopped and glanced down at her and waited for a response.

 _Mom's gonna freak…_ the words echoed in her brain, bouncing around like a sickening plague, making her feel ill to her very core. Her stomach churned and she felt as though she might throw up at any moment. She eventually shook her head and nodded.

"Are you sure? You don't look so good," Twilight noted.

"Y- yeah. Sorry just thinking. Let's go see mom and dad. Uh, I guess _your_ mom and dad," she quickly corrected.

The other Scootaloo snorted.

"Hey, they're your parents too… uh, sort of?" She asked, looking back at everypony as if expecting some answer.

Twilight shrugged. "I have no idea, but since there's two of you, I would think yes."

Both fillies could do nothing but shrug and follow along, with the twin from another realm following behind, thinking to herself, while the other skipped along happily.

 _Mom's gonna freak…_


	3. Chapter Three: An Unfamiliar Place

"When I explain it was my mirror that brought this on, your parents will be ticked at _me_ ," Twilight said, pacing the room back and forth.

Scootaloo walked forward, bringing her attention back onto her. "Uh, wasn't it my mirror that did it? Well, I mean it wasn't mine where I'm from, but I still did it. Why wouldn't sh- she get mad at me?"

"I… I suppose. Let's just all get this settled. The sooner we get it out of the way, the sooner I can find you a way back home."

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom were soon sent back home, with Twilight escorting them, once they were home it was time to escort Scootaloo. Now two Scootaloo's. One was perched on her scooter, while the other Scootaloo was seated in the back of the wagon. Scootaloo looked around nervously, lost deep in her own thoughts.

 _Will they be different? This is so weird!_

They passed Carousel Boutique and into the center of town. A familiar feeling crept into the Scootaloo's mind as they passed by house after house.

"It's right here!" The other Scootaloo called back to Twilight, who was busy running after them.

The two stopped in front of a rather large cottage that looked to be a mixture of Fluttershy's place and Rainbow Dash's cloud mansion. It was a wooden constructed building on the bottom, but the roof was made from pure clouds. It was a bizarre sight, but one that the residents of Ponyville had grown used to.

Scootaloo got out of the wagon, just as Twilight had caught up with them.

"Finally," Twilight paused to huff in some air, "we're here."

Scootaloo surveyed the place while shaking her head. _This is different._

"Hey, Mom! I'm home!" The other Scootaloo called out through the door. The effect was immediate. The door swung open, revealing a rather thin, yet stocky pegasus mare. She too had an orange coat and a similar colored mane and tail to Scootaloo. On each side of her flank was a picture of a few rainbow colored droplets right below a cloud. "Sweetie! I…" She trailed off and looked to Twilight, _Princess_ Twilight, then her eyes shot back to her daughter.

"What did you do?" she said flatly.

 _That's not different…_ The filly thought, again with a small sense of bitterness but swallowed it. For a few moments, she could sense reality essentially tearing apart at their seams, her senses unable to comprehend the impossible sight before her. Her breathing increased steadily until Twilight's voice brought her back to reality.

Twilight chuckled. "Well, technically she didn't do anything. Or much. We have a sort of situation and I was wondering if we could all come in and chat?"

The mare was about to lead them inside when she finally noticed the other Scootaloo standing off to the side. Her eyes whizzed back to Twilight in alarm, and Twilight raised her hoof placatingly. "Please don't panic! There was an accident and… can we just come inside and talk?"

The mare hesitated for a long while, before her eyes relaxed and she nodded. "Okay, but I want an explanation from all of you! That includes you, Scoots."

The other Scootaloo nodded and ran inside, quickly followed by Twilight. "I must say, you're taking this a lot more calmly than I would have anticipated."

Scootaloo hesitated for a long while as a sense of foreboding washed over her. Again, her mind seemed to reject the mare as reality, leaving her feeling sick to her stomach. She was looking at a literal ghost brought back to life and it sickened her.

 _This can't be real._

The mare chuckled. "Of all the things my daughter has told me that's happened with her and you and your friends, I'm sure a few of them had to be truthful."

"Mom!" The other Scootaloo scowled, blushing slightly.

"Oh relax, I'm just teasing. I've seen Twilight lift a giant monster over your head with just magic. Compared to that, _this_ almost seems sane!" she said with a chuckle. She was about to shut the door when she noticed the other one hadn't moved. "Well c'mon, I won't bite. Uh, your name is Scootaloo, right?"

She nodded and quickly ran inside, breaking her thoughts. "Yeah…"

The door was shut and the few were ushered onto couches that were all crafted from clouds. "Good thing we've all got pegasus in us," she joked.

"Heh, yeah. Um, I don't know too much about how she came to be," Twilight said, indicating to Scootaloo. "I just know it has to do with a mirror that I've been studying. But I'm afraid we don't know much about it."

"A mirror? She popped out of a mirror?" she said in a disbelieving voice.

"I fell into one, I was messing with it and it started glowing. I touched it and fell through onto her," Scootaloo said while pointing to the first Scootaloo.

The mare sighed. "Maybe you better start from the beginning- oh! Where are my manners? My name is Pale Cloud."

Twilight smiled. "It's nice to finally meet you. Your daughter is very special, quite adept at learning-"

"And getting into trouble."

Both fillies huffed, but Scootaloo stopped herself and looked away. _That was weird…_ she thought.

The mare's chuckled before Pale cleared her throat. "Right. Start at the beginning, girls."

Both fillies recounted what they knew, Scootaloo doing her best to recount all the lies she had told to everypony. Pale understood their story, eventually, but wasn't happy about it. Twilight finished for them. "And so you see, we need a place for, er, Scootaloo to stay while I try and find her a way home. Will you take care of her while I try and fix this?"

The mom grunted but nodded. "I suppose. She is my daughter, well, sort of." Scootaloo looked at her with wide eyes for a moment, then quickly looked away; her bitterness was obvious. "Uh, I don't mean anything by it, Sweetie. Plus if what Twilight says is true, then you have your own mom and dad out there, somewhere."

The filly winced but said nothing. Biting her tongue quite literally wasn't nearly as painful as hearing that come from her own mother's voice. Again, the sickening feeling crept in as the world around her seemed to turn a touch shade darker. Without thinking she began to rub her back into the cloud cushion left and right, trying to make the irritations to go away.

"However, I'll care for you like you were my own; I promise," she finished with a smile. The other Scoots smiled at her mom and bumped her elbow into Scootaloo who gave a shy yet fake smile and a nod in return.

"Thanks…" She said quietly, then trailed off. _Say it,_ she thought, but didn't move a muscle.

"Sure. So, is there anything else? I kind of wanted to get dinner started. You're welcome to say if you'd like?" she said, gesturing to Twilight.

"I better not. Spike gets pretty peeved if I'm not home by dark, but thank you." She then leaned down to Scootaloo and spoke quietly. "You sure you'll be okay? You've been awfully quiet since the Crusaders left."

She quickly nodded. "Yeah, just getting used to this, uh, house! It's different."

"Oh! I guess I hadn't thought of that! Is anything else different?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Yeah, you're not a princess, uh, where I'm from. And that tree library is still there." _Sort of…_

Twilight nodded, suddenly looking sad. "I… see."

Scootaloo looked to Twilight and recognized something in her now somber appearance. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to remind you…" she said apologetically.

 _She probably used to live there or something. Good going, Scoots'._

Twilight shook herself and smiled as brightly as possible. "It's alright. Any information at all can help me, uh, find where you live. It will help narrow down a search. Well, possibly." She then stood up and dusted herself off. "Well, I'll let you get used to her. If you need anything, just come see me, okay?"

Scootaloo hesitated, wanting to say something, but nothing came out. So, she nodded meekly. Twilight started to canter away and heard the three walk away into the kitchen. She cast a nervous glance back at the filly then quickly darted off. She had work to do.

[hr]

Pale marched up and down the couch around the two fillies. "Alright, since you both look and sound alike, we'll need some way to tell you two apart. Scootaloo, do you have anything you can think of? Maybe the cape from your little club?"

The Crusader Scootaloo groaned. "I've told her a million times, it's the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Pale patiently nodded. "Well, I'll be right back, hang on."

With the two alone, Pale leaned into Scootaloo, speaking rather softly. "Are you sure you're alright? You look a bit pale, which is saying something for our coat colors," she said, chuckling a bit.

Scootaloo blanched but quickly corrected herself.

"Oh, yeah. I guess I'm just tired. I'll be good by tomorrow. Heh, I hope Mom isn't too upset," she said quietly.

The ever foreboding feelings continued to ebb into her consciousness. Even saying such a little white lie was enough to unnerve her. Despite Scootaloo's best efforts, she really couldn't help but grimace and slump into her seat.

She nodded and started to back away to the kitchen. "If she's anything like me or she _is_ me, then, yes, she'll be pretty upset," she stated flatly.

 _I wouldn't count on it._

"By the way, you can hang your saddlebag over there," she said while pointing to a coat rack near the door. "You haven't taken the thing off since you got here, silly!"

Scootaloo glanced at her Phoenix bag and slowly nodded. While she didn't want anypony to know what was inside, she knew to raise suspicions was the last thing she should do so she quickly hung it up rather carefully then came back.

"Found it!" The other Scootaloo had come back with a blue-tinted scarf, similar in style and fashion to her club's capes. "Sweetie Belle made it for us, it was supposed to match our capes. But I never wear it. Here, try it on!"

She tossed it to her double and she wrapped it around her neck. "Uh, does it look fine?"

The other Scootaloo scoffed and waved her hoof. "Yeah, yeah. Fine. Hmm, what should we call you anyway?" Scootaloo said out loud.

"What? I'm Scootaloo…" she protested irritably.

"Yeah? So am I! I don't know about you, but I'd get tired of saying 'what?' each time my name is called and it's not for you," she stated smugly.

She rolled her eyes and nodded. "Fine, I guess. You want me to name myself?"

Pale Cloud had come back in, balancing two glasses of water on her back. "Here you two go. How about Double Scoots?" she offered while offering them each a glass of water.

The double looked at her funny and shrugged. "Why that?"

"Cause you're her double, it makes sense to me. Or maybe DS for short? _C'mon_ , nicknames are cool," she said in a tone that moms often used to try and trick their child into something.

Both fillies glanced at each other and blinked before announcing in unison, "Nah!"

Pale scoffed and looked away while Scootaloo wondered to herself about different names. All she'd been for the last several years of her life was a soldier. Sure, she wasn't always the best at what she did, but it was all she could think of.

 _Wait, I think I know…_

"What about Phoenix?" Scootaloo suggested.

The other Scoots shrugged at the name, but Pale's eyes brightened considerably. "I think that sounds lovely, Phoenix," she said with a wink.

Phoenix nodded with a slight smile. "Uh, cool. Now what?"

The mare sat on the couch between them and sighed. "Now, we wait for your father to get home. He'll have had dinner by now and I ate something. You both want mac and cheese?"

"Sure!" Phoenix said, immediately. Hesitantly she reached out just to touch her, so she could feel Pale's coat on her hoof.

 _She feels real…_

Scootaloo, however, was less enthusiastic. "I guess. Don't we have any more of those hayburgers?" she said, her mouth practically watering.

"We don't, it's noodles and cheese or nothing," she said, again in that flat tone.

"Fine."

Phoenix glanced over at Scoots' at her as if she had grown a second head, but figured it wasn't worth making a fuss about.

"Great, easy dinner for mom." She stood up and walked out, leaving them alone again.

Scootaloo's somber attitude left her almost immediately. She hopped off the couch and motioned for her double to follow. "C'mon to m- err, _our_ room," she corrected. "It's not every day I get to play with myself!"

Phoenix followed her upstairs, chuckling along with her. "Uh, good point, I guess."

"Hmm… let's draw!"

The newly dubbed Phoenix watched Scootaloo break out crayons, markers, pencils, and sketch paper. Without warning, Scootaloo dove in and began hastily drawing out something, not even bothering to invite Phoenix to play. It wasn't needed, she simply assumed that Phoenix did things like coloring all the time.

Hesitantly, Phoenix got down on the floor with her counterpart and took a blank sheet of paper. A very old and vague memory of doing this before surfaced, but it felt very alien to her. LIke she was suddenly visiting an old friend. Eventually, she did get a bit into the spirit of things, opting to draw over thinking about all of her problems. They doodled, sketched, giggled and played some. Phoenix hadn't remembered the last time she had done any fun activities. Like a switch, the dark feelings from earlier had simply lifted.

Scootaloo held up a hastily scrawled out picture of Rainbow Dash. She had it in front of her face and began to talk quickly, and she couldn't help but squirm with excitement as she spoke. "I'm Rainbow Dash! Fastest flyer in Equestria! You're no match for me, Shadowbolt!" she roared, nearly tossing the picture into Phoenix's face. Then she reared back with it sheepishly.

Phoenix held up a different drawing, although it looked quite similar to Scootaloo's. It depicted Rainbow Dash, only instead of the happy smirk and bright colors, she had on a scowl and was wearing a dark outfit. "Uh F- Fool! I am the awesomer and more amazing Shadow Dash! I am an elite member of the Shadow Bolts and you don't stand a chance against me, weakling!" Phoenix shrieked in terror and mimicking the actual Shadow Bolts. She felt silly for downgrading a serious threat, one she had encountered first hoof no less to a mere plaything, but she didn't care. Fun was fun.

Scootaloo paused, blinking in surprise. "Wow, good villain voice." She then struck a pose, pointing at Phoenix while discarding the paper. "But you will never stop the Element of Loyalty! Strike me with all your shadow powers, I can take them!" She then charged forward, her head hanging low, ready to strike. Phoenix raised her head and flared her wings out, discarding her picture as well. The filly's head shoved into Phoenix and began to shove her playfully backward. Phoenix smirked and shoved her body forward, ready to strike up another villainy one-liner. However, Scootaloo was shoved so far backward that her body tumbled over and soon she was flat on her back. "Ow!" Scootaloo wailed and clenched her teeth in pain. "Ow, ow, ow."

The playing stopped and Phoenix looked on in concern. "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

Scootaloo turned over to her side then nodded. "Yeah, maybe not shove me so hard? Okay?"

Phoenix nodded, but both ears perked up upon hearing a mare's voice. "Are you two playing alright? I heard some loud banging!"

Scootaloo called down before her counterpart could even blink. "Yep! We're fine, mom!"

"Good, dinner's ready. Come on down!" she yelled back and Phoenix shot out of the room and ran downstairs.

As she jumped down the stairs, Scootaloo caught sight of the muscle rippling underneath of Phoenix's fur. She looked down to her own and saw, while they weren't exactly underdeveloped, they could sure use some building up. She shook her head of those thoughts then marched downstairs for dinner.

"I bet more muscle would just weigh me down," she muttered, trying to console herself.

Scootaloo soon joined Phoenix who remained silent with a calm smile on her face. One of the fillies laid her head on the table and moaned. "Is it ready yet?" she said impatiently while looking up to her mother. She was leaning on the counter and using her mouth to stir a wooden spoon inside of a cooking pot.

The mare leaned back and snapped at her daughter. "No laying on the table, Scoots. And yes, it is."

Scootaloo groaned again and sat back up. The sight of two bowls of cheesy noodles flipped her mood back into high spirits. She dug in without even saying a word.

Phoenix saw the bowl then smiled. "Thanks, mo- uh, I mean… I..."

 _Stupid! She's not your mom!_ Phoenix clenched her teeth and bit her tongue ever slightly. She would do anything to stay close to her, even if she knew, deep down, she wasn't her mother.

"I suppose you can just call me 'mom' as well. Makes things easier on ya. And you're welcome. Now dig in before Scoots devours it all," she joked.

"Ve-ry f'nny," Scootaloo replied, her face stuffed with noodles.

"Uh, right." While she ate, Phoenix couldn't help but feel quite distant from the other two ponies. It wasn't so much that the mare in front of her said to just use 'mom'; it was how casual she had done it. Something about it bothered her deep down, so she remained quiet and ate. Part way through her dish, her emotions began to get the better of her. The bitterness of the whole thing mixed with the amazing flavors from such a rare delicacy had her at her breaking point. She bit her tongue and was quick to wipe any tears away before anypony noticed. Itchy wings returned and each time she rubbed them, she could swear she was ruining her bandage.

"I should probably walk you both to school tomorrow. I'll have to explain this… situation to your teacher," Pale muttered, mostly to herself.

 _To school…? Uh…_ Phoenix thought, her mind slowly shutting down from the stress of it all. She hadn't gone to school in ages!

Scootaloo took on a sly smile. "Or… you could just send one of us."

Her mom looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "Come again?"

Scootaloo nodded over to her counterpart. "It might freak out Miss Cheerilee if two of me shows up, don't ya think?" she said and wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

Her mom chuckled. "Cute, but no. You both will be going, I'll just explain things. You're _not_ missing school, Scootaloo."

Scootaloo scowled and crossed her forelegs. "Rats."

Phoenix looked at her bewildered; her bothersome thoughts now a million miles away. "You were gonna use me to get out of school?! That's low."

[hr]

When dinner was finished the two fillies were ushered upstairs. "Go get ready for bed, if you're lucky your father will be home before you're sleeping. Phoenix, there should be a spare unused toothbrush in her bathroom. I doubt you had one on ya when you… fell through."

Phoenix nodded and quickly found it. Wanting to spite Scootaloo just a little bit, she locked herself in the bathroom first, but not before sticking her tongue out and slamming the door.

"I said I was sorry!" Scootaloo called out then pouted. "Stupid school…" she muttered to herself.

It didn't take the two long to clean up and brush their manes and tails. They re-entered Scootaloo's room and found Pale laying out a sleeping bag along with a pillow. "I hope you don't mind, we don't have any spare beds. You could also sleep on the sofa downstairs, it might be comfier than the wood."

The prospect of sleeping on anything cloud-related certainly appealed to Phoenix, but she declined. She didn't feel like being any ruder to Scootaloo. She climbed into the sleeping bag and smiled up to the mare.

"Alright then. Scoots, you climb into bed too," she commanded sternly.

Scootaloo, however, stood her ground. "What about dad?"

The mare frowned and looked behind her to downstairs. "I'm not sure. It is getting late. Look, I promise I'll send him in _if_ he's back within twenty minutes."

Scootaloo looked at her in a disbelieving manner, but her mother shooed her to bed.

"C'mon, in bed. I can't control when your father gets home. I'm sorry."

"He's almost never home, except on the weekends!" Scootaloo complained while snuggling into her covers.

Phoenix looked away and scowled. _Better than dying in a losing army…_

She smirked and rolled her eyes. "It's how jobs work, squirt. Besides, you're always out with your friends, so you never see him." Scootaloo pouted and looked away, knowing she was correct. "Maybe you could spend some time with him on Saturday. Heh, maybe both of you can." She gestured to Phoenix who blushed and nodded along with her.

Scootaloo sighed and yawned. "Just… love you, mom," she said suddenly then stretched back into her bed.

"Love you too, sweetie." She glanced down to Phoenix, who was looking up awkwardly. "And I know your mom loves you too, Phoenix. Right, try and get some rest, you two. Good night." She then left the room with the door slightly ajar. A candle had been lit on Scootaloo's nightstand which was quickly blown out.

While Scootaloo felt content to lay in her bed, Phoenix just felt too weirded out to do such things. She had no choice but to lay in her sleeping bag, but that didn't mean she didn't want to stand up and scream. Anxiety, stress, nervousness all crept in on her. She was near familiar ponies but in a very unfamiliar situation. It was so freaky that she could swear Discord was just waiting to come and take the moment for himself with a cherry on top.

"Hey, you okay?" Scootaloo asked, glancing down at her.

"Yeah… just miss my mom is all," she answered honestly. "I mean, this isn't bad or anything; but it's not…" she then mumbled something, but she stopped when she noticed that it was basically gibberish.

"Oh. Sorry. I'm sure Twilight can find you a way home soon," Scootaloo replied, hoping to cheer her up.

Phoenix smiled up at her slightly and nodded. _Great…_

"Until then, we'll stick together. Cutie Mark Crusaders stick together, even if this is freakier than Discord!" Her voice rose just a bit louder than it should have, but thankfully Pale hadn't noticed.

"That's what I was thinking!" Phoenix said with excitement. "I guess we just think the same?"

Scootaloo blinked and shrugged. "Do you think Diamond Tiara is a dumb brat? If so, then yes."

Phoenix chuckled. "Uh, I don't know a Diamond Tiara."

"Seriously? Well, consider yourself lucky, buster."

The door suddenly creaked open. "Scootaloo, you can go see him. He just got hom-"

The filly was out of bed and zoomed out of the room before she could even blink. "-e," she finished."Hmm, better not see him yet. He was really tired and I didn't have time to explain him to you, Phoenix. But you can see him in the morning. I'm sure it will help you seem less lonely."

The filly nodded, closing her eyes while clenching her teeth.

 _Stop this… tell them._

"You sure you're alright? It's okay to be scared, you know," she said in a soothing tone, "nopony minds. We just want to help."

"I'm fine, but thanks, m- Pale. I'll just get some rest," she replied in a tone that said 'please just let me sleep'.

"Hmm, alright, just don't hesitate to let me know if something's bothering you. I don't care where you're from, you're still my daughter." She looked as if she wanted to lean down to kiss her on the cheek, but thought better of it. "Uh, yeah... Sweet dreams." She then closed the door but left it slightly ajar.

Downstairs, Phoenix could hear Scootaloo happily speaking with her father. The two voices seemed to wake up the whole house; possibly the whole neighborhood. In her bed, Phoenix lay awake listening to it all in pure shock. She felt like the unluckiest filly in the universe, envious of the luckiest downstairs. At that moment she would give anything to be the other Scootaloo. That night, her thoughts turned dark and bitter as her body moved around in turmoil.

 _Can't sleep like this anyway…_ she thought.

Phoenix eventually got out of bed and snuck downstairs so she could grab just one thing from her bag, a dream catcher.

As she laid it out, careful to make sure it was resting just above her pillow, she continued to lay awake in bed, staring up at Luna's moon.

 _I could just tell them why I can't go back._

Her eyes fluttered several times, screaming in pain, urging for her to rest. Phoenix carefully felt around her wings while idly scratching at them. She'd been careful to lay on her side to avoid further injuries, though she half suspected that the constant itching wasn't doing them any favors. Her eyes fluttered several times while she drifted in and out of sleep.

 _I could tell them… but what if they don't listen?_

She didn't know anypony of their world, just their names. And while her mom seemed kind and caring, just like she should be, she didn't fully believe _Princess_ Twilight had her best interest at heart.

She whimpered in her sleep, her thoughts drifting and mulling over her predicament.

 _I can't tell them. I can't. What if I do and they don't want me as their daughter?_

The thought hadn't fully crossed her mind until just then, but it wasn't like Pale hadn't dropped a big hint about.

 _She is my daughter, well, sort of…_

She felt shame for hearing it, but even more ashamed for still wanting her as her mother. After biting her tongue again just to stop from crying, she had another thought. It was barely there as she was finally at that moment when she could pass out, but it was still quite vivid in her mind.

 _They could still send me back..._

[hr]

When Phoenix woke up, her head was aching like crazy. She felt as if she had been awake for over twenty-four hours straight. Probably due to the fact that she barely slept all night. How could she? Every time she thought of Scootaloo's parents it filled her with so many conflicting emotions that it would nearly put her in shock. The laughing of the father would haunt her for a long time to come. Groggily she stood up and began to stretch. She looked up and found her counterpart happily snoozing on her bed.

She considered waking her but figured she'd get up on her own time. When Phoenix reached the doorknob, she paused and sighed. Something about facing Scootaloo's parents filled her with disgust. She wanted desperately to run downstairs and hug them both. Why shouldn't she be allowed that privilege? They were her parents after all! Her trembling hooves and tearful eyes stopped her, though. She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves, and despite herself, she left the room.

It was still dark in the house, and she had to squint to find her way downstairs. She looked around and didn't find that anypony had been awake yet.

 _Must be nice,_ she thought, and continued to examine things. Before she could even so much as look at the cloud couch, however, her stomach began to rumble like wild. Her eyes darted over to the open kitchen and she smiled. "Very nice."

After pouring herself a bowl of cereal (purposely not adding milk) and grabbing some toast, she took a seat on a cloud chair and sighed pleasantly. For a while, all that could be heard was the pleasant sound of her chewing and the occasional swallow. Her mind felt blank, which gave her a chance to relax. She didn't have to think about the problems that she was in or weird and confusing feelings regarding the other her's parents. It was just bliss.

"You're up early, Pumpkin," an energetic stallion's voice exclaimed.

The mirror Scootaloo's head shot up in surprise and she gawked at the stallion. He had an aqua blue coat, of all things, with a bright red mane and tail. He giggled, which made the mirror pony gawk even more as his voice was very high pitched. The filly shook her head as he walked up to her.

"Though I can't blame ya. Your mother told me about what you three were up to. Just think! There's another of… you upstairs, right now! It's crazy!"

Memories came flying at the mirror pony like a ton of bricks. _He thinks I'm the other Scootaloo! I forgot the scarf!_

"Uh, listen I-"

He walked over to the box of cereal and interrupted before she could get anything out. "I mean, you and that club of yours have certainly shaken things up in town, but this... this is insane! I love you, sweetie, but sometimes I think your mother is holding you back," he said, confusing her. "It's not like such young fillies to be causing so much trouble, but that means you three are thinking outside the box! Like I've always said: simplicity and routine may get you somewhere, but it won't lead you somewhere special. Risk, true risk, can!" he finished with a smile and leaned in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Phoenix shot back in such a fearful shock, her bowl of cereal nearly went everywhere. The stallion stared at her in shock as her own eyes widened in shock and she backed up a bit. "Yeah, heh. But I'm not your Scootaloo. I forgot to wear my scarf…" she said awkwardly.

He stood there frozen in mid-kiss, then straightened up and started to slowly back out of the room. His head popped back in for a moment. "This didn't happen," he said and left.

Phoenix's head promptly smacked into her cereal bowl and she groaned. Several minutes later Scootaloo came downstairs, who was soon followed by her mother. Phoenix finished off her meal and stood up to put her bowl in the sink.

"Good morning, Phoenix. Since you don't have any of your books from school, you can share with Scootaloo. Now, go and get ready. We need to get there before everypony else," she stated firmly.

Scootaloo poured her cereal and began to angrily mutter about going to school so early. Phoenix went upstairs to comb out her mane and tail. She gave a quick sniff to her body and found no offending odors, but knew she would eventually need a bath. _I guess it's not all bad here, I'll get a warm bath._ Time seemed to slip through the cracks, and soon she was standing outside their home, with Scootaloo on the other side of her mother.

"Well, c'mon. We have some explaining to do. Hopefully, your teacher won't call the guard on us," the mother quipped as they walked through town.

"Eh, I bet she'll pass out or something," Scootaloo quipped back.

"Or think it's a prank," Phoenix quipped as well.

Pale cleared her throat as they neared the school grounds. "Alright, enough joking. We're going to walk in there calmly and explain the situation. Scoots, no funny business," she demanded.

"Yeah, yeah…" she replied in a moaning tone, waving her forehoof.

They passed by the playground which was empty considering it was quite early in the morning. Pale was nervous that they had shown up almost too early, but the open doorway forced her to relax. Inside the tiny schoolhouse, they could hear a mare humming away. The place always seemed so neat and tidy with not a single ounce of chipped wood or speck of dirt. Pale smiled and entered, with Phoenix and Scootaloo following shortly behind.

Miss Cheerilee, a rather large earth pony with a stocky build, was seated at her desk. She didn't look up but did mutter something. "The test should be… hmm…"

"Uh, Miss Cheerilee?" Pale said, gaining her attention.

The mare shot her head up and locked her eyes firmly on Pale. "Oh, yes. How can I help you?"

"Uh, we have something of an issue…" Her voice trailed off and gestured to the two Scootaloo's. Scootaloo waved while smiling and Phoenix reluctantly did the same.

Cheerilee stared in astonishment, before giving the mare a flat look. "Is this a prank?"

Pale chuckled nervously and shook her head. "No. It's a long story, though."

Cheerilee stood up and walked over to each Scootaloo. Her hoof reached out and traced itself along each of their backs. She examined her appendage and nodded.

"Oh dear, what happened to her wing, sweetie?"

Phoenix glanced to her bandage and shrugged. "That's a long story, but I'm fine."

Both mares glanced at one another not looking convinced, but Phoenix's smile seemed to calm them down.

"If I had a bit for every foal who tried to paint themselves for a joke, I could probably buy a new house." She chuckled and then her eyes landed on both Scootaloo's. "This is a new one, not a prank… So, you were saying something about a story?" She glanced up to Pale, who nodded.

"Yes, well…" And she started at the beginning.


End file.
